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Matip wanted by Germany

Schalke defender Joel Matip is wanted by Germany to play for their national team despite receiving a recent call-up from Cameroon.

Last Updated: 01/01/10 7:13pm

The German national team are trying to tempt defender Joel Matip to commit his international future to them rather than Cameroon.

The Schalke stopper was born in Germany but has been named in Cameroon's squad for January's African Cup of Nations in Angola.

The 18-year-old - whose father is from Cameroon - has made a huge impact in his first season in the Bundesliga, and Germany's technical director Matthias Sammer admitted he would like to know of Matip's preference for his international future.

He told Bild newspaper: "We are already dealing with the issue and we ideally want to convince every good player to play for Germany."

The right-back - who can also play in a holding midfield role - has caught the eye of Germany U19 coach Horst Hrubesch, who conceded he would like the former VfL Bochum man to represent his birth country.

"It would be a shame if the issue of Matip was resolved with his call-up for the African Nations Cup," he said.

"We have been watching him a lot and he has played some very good games."

Matip made his debut for Schalke in October, scoring the equaliser in the Royal Blues' draw with Bayern Munich.